Dragons Den
by SeriinSakura
Summary: After being attacked by a band of robbers, Princess Lucy finds herself imprisoned by the leader of the gang. Desperate to escape, she tries everything to get out of her confinement, swearing to herself she will never put herself in monsters way again. But then again, can she hope for a knight in shining armor? Or is that too much too ask for? set in midieval era, OOC-ish.
1. Royalty taken

**A/N: This is my first attempt on writing a full NaLu(since someone wondered how I would do that. After some thinking I got a few ideas and I hope I'll be able to process all of it in this new fic. Bear with me, I'm doing my best to use all the advise i got on my first 2 fanfics( i'm such an amateur, lol.) If you see any typo's or something that doesn't make sense, please tell, and I'll adjust it asap. have a nice read!**

 **CH: 1 Royalty taken**

 _Blood. There's blood everywhere. My hands...My clothes. My hood, that once used to be white as snow, is now crimson, covered in the blood of my guardians. The blood of the King's best men. Maybe even my own. Am I going to die?_

Princess Lucy Heartfillia of Magnolia Kingdom leaned against the broken wheel of her Royal chariot. Surrounded by the horribly mutilated corpses of her guards, her friends, and even her nurse, her dresser and the ladies that escorted her wherever she went, Lucy wailed in grief.

"Nana!"

Crying out the nickname she used for her nurse since infancy, she started crawling towards the mangled body. Carefully lifting the nurses head, she weeped as she kept crying out her name, as she softly caressed her nurses face. In fact she was so engulfed with the horror spread out before her young and unexperienced eyes, she , for a moment, forgot the cause of her bloody misery. But she, to the contrary had ,unwillingly and unconsciously, drawn the attention of the entire band of robbers to herself. And the leader, ever so slowly, was pacing around her, making his circles smaller with every round, like a hungry wolf. And Lucy was oblivious of this, not used to this amount of violence, and completely shocked out of her wits. She just kept sobbing, untill, finally, two black boots with metal studs appeared in her line of sight. Her sobs stopped abruptly as her head snapped up to face the man in the boots. Lucy squealed, barely audible by the lack of air, as she somehow managed to gasp in shock and disbelief at the same time.

The man towering over her smirked down on her with a devilish grin. His face was adorned with metal, something the princess never saw before. Metal was used for weapons, traditionally. Not as face decoration. His hair was black as the feathers of a raven, and was tied back in a low tail, reaching all the way down to his waist. He was dressed in black leather, top to bottom, and somehow Lucy had the mind to think that was odd, as the only leather she knew was brown. And usually only farmers used it, but with the fur still attached to it, and to keep warm, not as clothing. This leather was the darkest black she had ever seen, and, like his face, it was decorated with metal, without any purpose. He wore a black cloack,that seemed to be made of the skin of a black wolf. The man himself looked almost wolflike.

When Lucy looked back up at his face, she saw his crimson eyes shimmer with sattisfaction, and something she never saw in a man's eyes before. But she did know it made her feel uncomfortable.

"Like what ya see, princess?"

His voice rumbled trough the air sending vibrations trough her chest, making her shiver. Stuppified by the impact his voice had, she failed to answer him appropriately, even though etiquette demanded her to say at least something. But fear had frozen her brain, and the poor princess could not even remember the question. Amused by the obvious fear in her face, the wolflike robber chuckled mischievously, as he looked at her, sitting next to the dead body of her nurse, kneeling in her pink corset dress, wich made her large assets look even more impressive. And the fact that she was covered in that much blood; The sight almost intoxicated him. Once again his voice rumbled over the otherwise silent open meadow in the forest.

"I sure love what I'm seeing. I'm surprised that dress can hold your boobs in place."

Not completely unfamiliar with the rather indecent term, Lucy looked down at her own figure and blushed as she realised what view the man must have. Shocked by that same undefinable look in his eyes, the princess let go of the dead nurse, and started crawling backwards, back to the insuficient and honestly non existant safety of her demolished chariot. The man in black followed her with slow, certain steps, stepping over the bodies like they were mere logs. Stricken with fear Lucy kept crawling back until she hit the shattered wall of her chariot, and the man only needed one more step to stand right in front of her. Faintly she could hear the other robbers chuckling in anticipation, and for a brief moment she realised she didn't want to find out what they were so merry about. The next moment, their leader crouched down before her, his face on eyelevel, only inches away from hers.

"It's a shame, little blondie, that your beautifull dress is ruined. A princess should not be covered with blood, don't 'ya agree?"

When Lucy nodded shortly, he continued.

"Right. But see. I don't have any fancy dresses for you to wear. And I can't take you home like this."

"Home?" Lucy managed to whimper the one word, just loud enough for him to hear.

Apparently the sound of her fear amused him. He smirked, and reached out for her hand. Not sure what was happening, she took his hand, taken completely by surprise as he yanked her to her feet and pushed her back against the remnants of the chariot. His dirty, left index finger, also adorned with a piece of metal that engulfed his finger like a piece of armor, flicked under the strap of her blood covered hood, severing it, causing it to drop to the ground. Holding her by her troath, the man grabbed a strand of the blond hair, that came loose from her traditional updo. Rubbing it between his thumb and indexfinger, he sniffed the perfume she sprayed on her hair every morning.

"Good thing your hair didn't get ruined with blood."

Lucy trembled in disgust as he let go of her hair and trailed his metal adorned finger along the side of her body, down to her waist and to the front, hooking his metal armored finger under the laces of her corset dress. His face came closer to hers as he smirked.

"Lets get you out of this dress. It's ruined anyway."

The band of robbers started laughing and cheering, and one of them even encouraged him.

"Yeah, you go Gajeel! Strip her naked!"

Lucy's eyes popped open at the mere thought of these scoundrels seeing her naked, and she intended to plea with the man in black, but bit her tongue when he snapped his face to the right, his red eyes glowing with fury as he snarled at the robber that had encouraged him.

"For the last time, serpent! You call me boss, or you shut your face! Do not call my fucking name in front of my prey!"

Lucy felt herself shrink a bit at the word 'prey', even more fearfull of coming events. The man slowly turned his face back to look at her, and smiled wide enough to bare his fangs at her.

"Now, where was I? O right. This infernal dress!"

"Please..." Lucy begged him, but he only smirked in response

With one quick move of his wrist, he cut the laces of the corset and ripped the fabric from her figure, leaving her in nothing but her undergarments. Lucy flinched as her dress rustled to the muddy road beneath her feet, closing her eyes as she averted her face, so she wouldn't have to see the look on his face. Watching her discomfort, Gajeel decided he wanted to make her squirm even more. Slowly he bent down, and with a quick flick of his tongue, he licked some of the blood of the rounds of her voluptuous mounds. He heard her gasp in shock, and her perky breasts moved a little as she did. Thrilled and entertained, he licked her clean, before standing straight again. He wiped his mouth slowly, as to let her take in the full horror of what he just did. Not taking his eyes of her he gestured one of his men to come. The robber come closer, handing his boss a rope. Taking it from him, Gajeel took one of Lucy's wrists, bound the rope around it and then started tying her other wrist to it. When her hands were securely confined, he crouched at her feet, binding them like he bound her hands. Without another word or warning, he pulled her down over his shoulder, lifting her of her feet as he stood up. Awakened by the sudden realisation that she was about to be kidnapped, the princess started kicking her legs and screaming, all the while squirming on his shoulder to get free. Abruptly he put her on his feet and hit her in the face with the back of his hand. Lucy was sure she tasted blood when she looked at him in shock.

"Shut it blondie. Nobody will hear you anyway. Everyone who could have heard you is dead. Dead ,you hear! If you make a sound, even the slightest squeal, I'll cut you."

Lucy sobbed again, but stopped immediately when he raised his hand again.

"Good girl. Maybe I won't kill you. If you're good, I might keep you. After breaking your spirit a bit ofcourse. "

He chuckled shortly at her horror stricken face, blindfolded her, and lifter her onto his shoulder again. Lucy shed her tears in silence as they started to march trough the woods, leading to a place only the robbers knew, and maybe, have mercy, the gods would see her predicament.


	2. In the dungeons

**Chapter 2: In the dungeons**

The chariot swayed and rocked as it progressed on it's way over the bumpy road. It was definitely no excessive luxury that the seats in the chariot had fluffy cushions. Although the bright pink of the cushions would surely hurt everyone's eyes, except the princess's,it did nothing to diminish the comfort and softness.

The passengers riding the chariot hardly uttered more than two words among eachother. The trip had been a long and boring one, the scenery outside no longer a reason of fascination to the young, terribly spoiled princess. They had been driving trough the forest for hours, and the end was nowhere in sight. After seeing the beautifull landscapes, varying from hills to lakes and meadows, and plains and cherryblossom gardens, the dark forest held no source of interest for the princess, and after a few attempts to brighten her spirit, she had snapped at her maids to keep quiet and let her sulk.

The chariot was surrounded by the princess's personal guard, and she lazyly looked at the one riding next to her chariot. He was reasonably good looking, for a guard that is. As the only heir of Magnolia, the princess was not allowed to have premerital affairs, but that didn't keep her from toying arround with her guards, whenever she felt like it. But she couldn't remember playing with this particular guard before. Maybe, when they would stop for the night, she could order him to be her personal watchman for the night, and mess with him a bit. As long as she didn't give her female innocence to him, the throne would not be in jeopardy.

Lucy lightly shuddered at the idea of conceiving a bastard child from one of her guards. Toying with them was all the fun she wanted for now, especially with the destination of her trip in mind. She was on her way to meet her future husband, the young prince of the north that she had been promised to since birth. She never laid eyes on him before, but with her sixteenth birthday two weeks ago, her father, the King, had decided it was time for the young betrothed pair to meet. And like all arranged marriages, Lucy had nothing to say in the matter.

Lucy sighed with boredom. She sure hoped this prince would at least be handsome. He probably wouldn't be. Why else would his father arrange a marriage for him? That could only mean he was too ugly to find a proper wife himself. O ,If only the princess had the right to choose a husband herself. Surely her mother wouldn't have allowed this if she knew how unhappy it made Lucy. Ofcourse she agreed to it when Lucy was born, but if her mother could see her now, she would certainly protest against it. Unfortunately, the beloved Queen had deseased at young age, felled by the black plague.

The princess laid eyes on her guard again. It was strange that she couldn't even remember his face. Surely she didn't care about her guards, but she knew all of their faces, and heaven forbid she would forget the face of a handsome man. As she studied his face intensely, he shortly looked her way, something guards were not suposed to do. As he caught her looking at him, he grinned in the most charming way, causing her to blush. Lucy quickly sat back on her seat, refusing to look at him again. He was not suposed to look at her, let alone smile at her. How dare he make her blush?! She toyed around with the guards, not the other way around.

Leaning forward again, she peaked around the curtains adorning the chariots windows, carefully making sure he wouldn't catch her looking at him again. But this time the guard didn't seem interested in the chariot at all, and even less in the princess. How infuriating. The guard suddenly seemed solely focussed on the forest surrouding them, and whistled shortly in appreciation of his surroundings.

There was a short disturbance in the front lines of the small Royal convoy, and the leading guard called for a halt. Lucy grunted in annoyance. It wasn't time to halt yet. Irritated she stuck her head out of the window, looking at the road in front of them. Adressing the guard, she ordered an explanation.

"What is the problem? Why did we stop"

Looking ahead the guard answered her.

"It seems a tree has fallen on the road, your Highness. We might have to find another way."

"But I was told this is the fastest way out of the forest."

The guard nodded and shifted in his sadle.

"It is, Princess. But I'm afraid we don't have another choice."

Grunting once more, Lucy sank back into her seat again. Her personal nurse slightly patted her on her left hand.

"No worries, my dear. I'm sure the captain will find a proper solution."

Lucy did not reply. She had dreaded the long trip to the north, and now it seemed it would take them even longer to get there. Her fears were confirmed when the Captain positioned his steed next to the chariot, and adressed one of the dames.

"I'm sorry, but there's a fallen tree on the road, and we can't get around it. We will have to take a left turn and take the longer route out of the forest."

The dame he had been talking to nodded in understanding as the princess averted her eyes, once again irritated,and looked at the handsome guard again. He seemed quite restless, eager to move on. He must hate the forest as much as the princess did. The way he kept looking around seemed almost nervous to her.

The Captain, having reclaimed his place at the front of their convoy, shouted orders to move on, and the chariot started moving again. The convoy took the only other route it could take, taking them into the forest to the left. After a few minutes, the convoy entered a clearing in the forest, a wide open meadow. The guard whistled in appreciation again, and Lucy looked to see what was impressing him.

Within seconds the meadow was filled with noise, cries from the guards and orders, shouted by the captain. Lucy only saw how arrows came flying from the cover of the trees, and the meadow filled with men dressed in black hoods, covering their faces with the waving fabric. The next moment a boulder, likely swung from a large katapult, hit the right front wheel of the chariot , shattering it, causing the chariot to fall sideways. The princess and her maids screamed with terror, as the princess was thrown out of the chariot by the momentum of the fall, and as she looked up, the whole meadow was in disarray. The Royal guards were fighting with the robbers, desperately trying to protect the princess.

"Milady! Quickly! We must run and hide!"

The princess's maids crouched next to her, shielding her with their bodies. The guard that had grinned at her had abandoned his horse, and stomped towards her.

"I cannot allow you to run."

He forcefully yanked one of the younger maids away from the princess, and when she screamed, he quickly silenced her, cutting her troath with his hunting knife. Blood sprayed over the princess, who was still kneeling on the dirt next to her chariot, and as her mouth fell open and her eyes popped wide in shock, the dead body of her maid dropped to the grass, blood pooling around her fast. Before Lucy had the chance to move, her personal nurse blocked her view, pulling a knife from the folds of her skirt.

"Stand back, you scoundrel. I have no idea how you managed to infiltrate the royal guard, but your wicked ways end here."

For a moment the fake guard, wich was obviously on the robbers' side, looked surprised at the older woman's claim. But it only took him a second to calculate the odds of her defeating him, and they were very slim at most. Smiling like the wicked man she accused him to be, he took one large step towards her, so quickly, the poor nurse didn't have the time to move. Her knife missed its purpose completely, as the man pierced her straight trough the heart with force, effortlessly tossing her aside, as she gasped her last breaths, allowing herself to call the princess's name one last time.

"Lucy..."

Tears filled Lucy's eyes as she looked at the only woman she ever cared for after her mother's death.

"Nana! Nana, no!"

The screams of her maids pried her eyes away from her nurse, the woman who took care of her all her life, only to see how the last two maids dropped to the soil as well, the life drained from them the moment the man severed their arteries. Stricken with fear, Lucy crawled back against her severely damaged chariot, absolutely sure it was her turn to face death. But the robber just stood there, looking at her as the ruckus arround them slowly diminished. The screams and shouts of the royal guard died out one by one, as the band of robbers succesfully slayed every single one of them. Lucy saw her loyal Captain, kneeled between a few robbers, forced to his knees by their strength. He looked her way for the last time, and smiled at her encouragingly, only a second before the robbers' leader severed his head with swords that seemed to be attached to his arms. Lucy screamed in agony , and let her head hang low as she sobbed.

...

...

Crying, Lucy woke up from her nightmare. The memories of those terrible, frightning events haunted her in her sleep, and her body felt sore from the tension as she regained conciousness. Her arms were lifted above her head in a very uncomfortable way, and frankly said, it hurt. When she opened her eyes, it took her some time to adjust to the darkness of her surroundings. Where was she?

"Finally awake,Princess?"

A low, bass voice drew her attention to the far corner of the cave-like cell she appeared to be in. Lucy strained her eyes in an attempt to see the owner of that voice. She was sure she never heard it before, so it couldn't be one of the robbers that had attacked her and her guards. She could only see vague shapes, since the only light present, was a torch further down the cave corridors outside of her cell. She could see the iron bars locking her in, and against those bars leaned a man. The shape she could distinguish, was tall and muscled. It seemed his shoulders were plated with armor, and his long hair was combed back, to fall down along his shoulders and upper back. A cape waved behind him.

"Who are you?"

Lucy's curiosity overtook her fear shortly, even though her voice still trembled at the sight of this unknown man.

"My name does not concern you. You won't be able to tell anyone either way."

His voice rumbled trough the cell, and he sounded like he was older than the King, even though his voice and his stance were still strong. He pushed himself off the bars, and took one slow step towards the princess.

"See, I don't intend to let you go home. It suits me a lot better to keep you here. Either that, or I will just have you killed."

Lucy cried in silence, hoping the dark would prevent him from seeing her tears. The man turned his body to his right, showing his impressive profile, even though Lucy was still unable to see his face. His cape waved with the movement, right before the man was suddenly engulfed in a shadow that seemed to appear out of nowhere, and without another word he dissapeared. Lucy looked at where he had been standing just a second ago. How could he just dissapear like that? Who was that man?

Her thoughts were interupted by the echoing sound of heavy footsteps down the cave corridor, coming her way. Pinned to the wall by iron cuffs, Lucy was unable to hide, although that was exactly what she wanted to do right now. Considering she was imprisoned by those robbers, whatever came her way, scared her. And for good reason. With the light of another torch, came the leader of the robbers who had attacked and killed her entire guard. The man that one of the robbers had called Gajeel. The wolflike man, with metal all over him, and hair as black as night. He was followed by two other men, also with torches, and the three of them came to a halt in front of her cell.

Only now Lucy noticed there was no door in her cell. Only a wall of bars. Before she could wonder about this, the man named Gajeel lifted his hand, and as he slowly waved it to the side, the bars bent, creating an opening big enough for him to pass trough. The other two men followed after him, putting the torches in their holders on the cave walls, illuminating the cell enough for Lucy to see her surroundings. And also the humilliating fact that she was still in her undergarments.

The two unknown men left the cell, and Gajeel waved his hand again, closing the bars behind them, sealing her in with him. Too scared to wonder how he could bent the bars with just a wave of his hand, Lucy stared at the wolflike man. Adamant in her pride, she lift her chin and looked him straight in the eye, with the coldest look she could master. Gajeel only snickered at her attempt to hide her fear.

"Now now, blondie. If only looks could kill. You might have a chance here. How unfortunate you are not capable of mastering such a power."

He mocked her with another snicker, and Lucy bit her lip to prevent it from trembling.

"Shall we remove those?"

With another wave of his hand, the cuffs on Lucy's wrists released her, and weak and exhausted, she fell to her knees. Gajeel came towards her, and crouched before her, the way he had done back in the meadow. With a jerking movement, she backed away from him, slamming her back into the wall, resulting in another snicker from him. He put down a plate on the rocky floor, and as she looked at it her mouth watered at the sight of the food on it. And not just any food. Fruits, milk, freshly baked bread, cheese and cream.

"Why are you feeding me? Aren't I your prisoner?"

Gajeel got back on his feet with a grin as he nodded.

"Well, yeah. But there's no point in letting you die, before I get what I want."

Lucy gulped audibly.

"What do you want from me?"

"Everything I can get out of this."

And after a last, lustfull look at her body, he turned on his heels, bent the bars again, and left, making sure the bars would bent back, so she was sealed in again. Desperate by the bleak prospects of her imprisonment, Lucy hid her face in her hands, and cried as loud as she dared.

Back in his room, Gajeel sat on his bed, elbows on his knees, and his forehead resting on his wrists. A sudden surge of power made him aware of the precense of another man, and looking up and to his left, he saw the Dark One sitting in the most comfortable chair he owned. Getting off the bed, Gajeel got down on one knee with his head bowed down, and his right hand on his heart.

"Master."

"Get up."

The Dark mages voice sounded harsh and demanding, and Gajeel jumped to his feet.

"Have you done as I told you?"

"Yes, Exalted One."

"Spare me your flattery. You have been sloppy. I had to go back to that wretched meadow to make your mess look like an assault from Tartarus, you unusefull swine!"

The Dark mage got up from his chair and got right in front of Gajeel, his face deformed with anger, his eyes darkening. Gajeel looked down to avoid his gaze, knowing very well what power those eyes held.

"I ordered you to make it look like an attack from those rebellious tramps, so the traces wouldn't lead back to me, but you and your band went about that meadow like a band of baboons!"

His hand slapped Gajeel in the face, causing him to stumble back a few steps. Rubbing his cheek, he kneeled again.

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again, my Lord."

"Indeed."

After a short silence, passed with the Dark mage pacing around the room, and Gajeel impatiently waiting, praying for him to leave, Gajeel got back on his feet slowly.

"If I may,my Lord, do you really think feeding that blondie with luxury will make her talk?"

Grinning devilishly, the Dark One turned to face him.

"She has to regain strength. She has been passed out for three days. It would be a shame if she would die from exhaustion the first time you interogate her."

Widening his smile to a wicked, deformed grin, he continued.

"I want the torture to have it's full effect."

...

...

 **A/N : Thanks for reading! I hope this chapter was to your liking; this story is different from anything I ever wrote so far, fanfic or other, and I'm trying to improve my writing skills. Please leave a review, for that will only help me to improve more! Thank you very much!**


	3. True torture is in the mind

**Ch: 3 The mind is a good place for torture.**

 _"Wake up, blondie."_

Somewhere distant Lucy heard the voice she quickly grown to hate, but she couldn't see where it came from.

 _"I said,_ WAKE UP!"

Lucy sat upright on the rocky floor of her cave prison, as the distant voice suddenly turned into a shout. She hit her right shoulder against one of the portruding rocky spikes on the cave wall, causing her to flinch and automatically grab her shoulder and she started rubbing it.

"Now don't hurt yourself. That's my job."

Her attention drawn by his words and the devilish chuckle that followed it, she looked up at Gajeel, who seemed to make a habbit out of crouching in front of her. Seeing her agony and shock, he smirked, and raised his hand to caress her cheek. Lucy tried with all her might not to shiver in disgust at the contact. His hands were warm, and rough, worn with violence. She tried to turn her face away from his hand, but he grabbed her chin, squeezing it tight with his thumb and index finger.

"Time to get to bussiness, princess."

And with those words he pulled her up by her troath and pushed her against the wall, lifting her of the ground as he choked her. Lucy's hands pulled at the hand blocking her airways, but his strong fingers would not budge. This was it. He was going to torture her, untill she told him everything she knew, and then he would kill her. She was done for. He took one of her hands, pinning it against the cave wall above her head, and out of nowhere an iron cuff appeared around her wrist, sealing it to the cave wall. He did the same with her other hand, before he let go of her troath, leaving her hanging on the wall, several inches above the ground. It strained on her arms and shoulders, and her back grazed against the rocks, bruising and damaging her skin, even though she hang there motionless.

The wolflike man took a step back to admire his work with an aprreciative grin on his face. Their faces were on eyelevel now, and the look in his eyes unnerved her. He rested his hands in his neck, looking almost relaxed as she could do nothing but just look at the beast in front of her, hungrily eyeing his prey, like he was going to eat her.

"I'll explain the rules. We'll start slowly. I'm not a monster; I realise you must be tired, so probably that little brain of yours will have a hard time remembering anyting usefull. So for now, I won't hurt you too much, and I won't ask what I really want to know. That way you can get used to the whole process. However. If you don't tell me what I want to know, refuse to answer, or take to much time in answering, you will get hurt. Understood?"

Lucy nodded, struck with fear, and tried her best not to let it show. But before she could even comprehend what happened, his fist struck her face, smacking her head against the rocks behind her, and all kinds of colors flashed in front of her eyes.

"I said answer! Didn't the _king_ teach you any manners?"

He strained the word king in a mocking way, and for a moment Lucy wondered if he would try to kill her father, and take over the kingdom. It seemed like he didn't think King Jude was fit to be king in the first place. But she remembered she was suposed to talk, before she would get punched again, and managed to smile trough her pain and dizzyness.

"My father didn't really have that much time for me."

She knew what she said was dangerous, because she was obviously mocking him, and as soon as she said it she realised this might very well get her punched again. But Gajeel just stood in front of her, smirking at her snarly response.

"Well, what do you know. Seems father and daughter don't get along that well. How did that happen? Is father too busy with ruling to spend time with his own daughter?"

Lucy bit her lip. She didn't intend it that way, but actually he was right. Her father was always busy, even when she was a child, and he never had time for her. After her mothers death, Lucy was raised by her nurse and maids, and entertained by her guards. Especially the captain, who, she now realised, gave his life protecting her. A lone tear rolled down her cheek, but she still remembered she had to answer.

"The King is a good king. He works hard for his kingdom and his people."

Gajeel stuck out his arm to the side, and a metallic chair appeared out of nowhere. He turned it backwards and sat down on it, resting his arms on the back.

"Does he now? That's not what we think, princess. Tell me, have you ever spend time with commoners?"

Lucy shook her head.

"No, ofcourse not. I'm a princess, I have no bussiness with commoners."

" And such is the answer of the girl who's suposed to become Queen."

To her surprise he actually sounded dissapointed.

"You're no better than your father. You see princess, he doesn't care for his subjugates. The only thing that heartless king cares about, is living in welness, surrounded by his riches, and expanding his kingdom. He violently takes what he wants, to become even richer, while his people perish of poverty."

He lifted his left hand to his chin, resting his thumb under his jaw, and his indexfinger on his upper lip, as he watched his words take effect. Lucy looked back at him in shock. She couldn't believe he had the audacity to say that about the king.

"You're lying!"

Gajeel got up with a jolt and kicked the chair aside, taking one big step to stand right in front of her. She couldn't help but flinch, as his face was only an inch away from hers, as he snarled.

"Watch it princess. You should be smarter than to raise your voice to me like that."

She swallowed audibly, and he stepped back, turning his head to look over his shoulder, looking at the space between the bars, the hole he made to enter her cage. She hadn't even realised he left it open. She was pinned to the wall anyway, so he probably didn't bother, knowing she wasn't going anywhere.

"WENCH!"

His voice thundered trough the cave so loud, it sounded like the roar of a monster, and Lucy could just feel her eardums vibrate at the power behind his roar. Shortly after the echoes died out, she could hear soft, light footsteps, running trough the cave corridors. A small, short, and strangely bluehaired girl appeared and stopped in front of the bars, not coming in.

"You called for me?"

Her voice was soft, almost shy, and her face was sad, something Lucy could see, even though she humbly looked at the ground, as to avoid looking at them, and even though the light was dim. Gajeel hardly payed attention to her, other than giving her an order.

"Get me the lacryma that shows Fiore."

Lucy's head turned towards him when he mentioned the capital of Magnolia Kingdom, the city where the castle was. Her home. But did he seriously speak of something that could show her the city? How was that possible? What was this Lacryma he spoke of?

The girl nodded, pointed her finger in the air, and started writing ancient runes on nothing but air. Lucy watched her in shock, not able to comprehend how the girl did this, and even more incapable to understand the ancient language she was writing. The girl muttered a few words.

"Summon!"

The last word was clear as her bell like voice ringed trough the caves. The next second there was a flash of light that forced Lucy to close her eyes, and when the light dissapeared and Lucy opened her eyes again, the bluehaired girl was holding a small, pink orb, that seemed to glow. Gajeel held out his hands towards her, and the girl stepped inside the cage, holding it out to him. He reached for it with both hands, but as his left hand took the orb from her, his right hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her against his chest.

"Thank you, Levy. You know you're my favorite slave, don't you?"

"Yes master."

Lucy could see in her eyes how uncomfortable Levy was in his arms, but she didn't put up a fight, didn't try to get out of his strong grip, and kept her voice soft and humble. Lucy couldn't help but have respect for this petite and fragile girl, who miraculously seemed to hold her own in front of him.

"Now, now...Don't be so distant. I've already seen all of you anyway. Look at me."

His voice almost seemed to purr, and Lucy's eyes popped wide open in disbelieve. This terribly fearsome man changed his attitude and his personality in a whim, and for a moment he almost seemed charming. But Levy, knowing better, hesitantly looked up, her lower lip trembling, and his familiar smirk appeared again.

"Do you fear me?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good girl."

He bent down and forcefully kissed her on the lips, as the hand that had pulled her towards him entangled in her blue hair, pulling it to tilt her head back and to the side. His lips caressed her cheek and jaw as he lowered his head to her neck, and smirking against her skin while he looked at Lucy with red, glowing eyes, he bit down on her neck, piercing her skin. Levy whimpered in pain, trying not to scream out in agony. Gajeel kept his eyes fixed on Lucy, who quickly looked away in emberassment and disgust. Amused, he chuckled and released Levy.

"Take care of that wound, and go to my room. I feel the need to unwind, and release some stress."

With tears in her eyes, Levy nodded as she held her hand pressed against her neck.

"Yes, sir."

After she left, Gajeel finally closed the bars behind her, once again locking Lucy in with him. He smiled at her, as Lucy quietly cried for the fragile bluehaired girl. Gajeel softly laughed.

"You know, the funny thing is. She was once in exactly the same place as you are right now. Also pinned to a wall I must add. It didn't take long to break her. Treathening to kill everyone she loved, was enough to make her do everything I say."

He chuckled at his achievements.

"And she won't even run. It's perfect."

Lucy responded only with a sob, and he came closer, still holding the pink orb.

"If you're smart, you might end up like her."

Terrified, Lucy looked at him. She didn't want to end up like Levy at all. She could only guess at what he meant with 'releasing stress', and the most likely possibility was not something she wanted to think about, let alone experience it for herself.

"You shouldn't hate it too much. My loyal spy told me how much you like to toy around with your guards. Naughty little princess."

Angrily remembering the face of the guard that turned out to be on the robber's side, she knitted her eyebrows together in a frown.

"I never gave myself to any of them."

"Good. I prefer virgins."

He smiled at her deviously, as he watched her face go pale. But to his surprise she turned red the next second, and spat him in the face.

"I will never give myself to you like Levy does! I'd rather die!"

His hand snapped up to catch her troath again as he pushed her up by the neck.

"Carefull what you ask for, blondie. Your wish might come true when I'm done with you. I must warn you not to anger me, though. When you do, I might decide to violate your body in every way I can think of, to show you your place. You have no choice. And you have absolutely nothing to say about it. You're mine to use as I see fit!"

He released her and she dropped down, and the impact made her shoulders hurt as her full weight dropped down on the cuffs on her wrists. She groaned as her back slammed into the wall again. If what he said was true, he did this to Levy as well. Who was she? Why was she important? What made him abduct and torture her? What would he do to her, as she was locked up in this cave now, where he once tortured Levy?

Gajeel relentlessy continued what he came for, and pulled up the chair again, raising the pink orb so she could look at it. She felt a short surge of power somehow filling the cell, and in the orb there was now an image. Lucy loudly gasped as she regonised her home. The castle looked brilliant in the morning sun, showing it's full glory, and Lucy eyes burned with tears at the sight. How she wished to be there now. She had wished to escape the rules of the castle, the laws that decided that she was to be married off by her father. But now she'd gladly marry that unknown prince to go home again.

"You obviously regonise the castle. But you don't know that this is a realtime view. It's morning as we speak, and whatever you see, is happening exactly at the moment you see it in the Lacryma."

Lucy shook her head.

"Impossible."

"Really? Then explain this, if you can."

But he knew very well she couldn't. Lucy never saw anything like this,just as she never saw a man command metal, or a girl write ancient runes in the air to summon this glowing orb she now beheld. And he knew that. And her silence confirmed that, untill she had to admit she couldn't.

"I can't explain it."

"It surprises me, how ignorant you seem to be to magic. But I supose we have your father to thank for that. He's the one who banished all magic from Magnolia after all."

"Magic doesn't exist."

Gajeel laughed out loud at her statement.

"Foolish girl. You've been surrounded by magic ever since I brought you here. The man you saw when you first woke up? That's the strongest dark mage I know. You've seen me control metal, you've seen Levy summon a object by writing runes in the air. All of that is magic, princess."

Lucy still couldn't believe it. She never heard such thing. But she couldn't ignore the fact that a lot of strange things had been happening since she was abducted, and there was no other explanation for it. She wanted to ask about it, but she wasn't sure if she could. She was in a ridiculous situation here, hanging on the wall, locked in with someone who used magic to control metal, and showed her her home in an orb. But she was also his prisoner, and asking questions might get her punched again. Gajeel sighed.

"Just ask already. I can see you want to."

Surprised by his strangely normal behaviour, like he wasn't her kidnapper, she stayed quiet for a while. Gajeel raised his eyebrows at her.

"Well, do you want to know or not?"

Hesitantly, Lucy nodded. As long as they were talking that would at least mean he wasn't hurting her. Her sight was still blurry from the first punch. Gajeel seemed to be sattisfied with her response, even though Lucy couldn't understand why. She thought she would be tortured for hours. But he talked more then she expected. He didn't exactly seem talkative at first.

"Well, let me tell you a story then. Magic has been around since the dawn of time, but not everyone realised it and even fewer were able to use it. I think you've heard of witches, or maybe read about them?"

Lucy shook her head.

"Bloody hell, that no good king erased every trace of it."

His words hit her like a ram.

"My father erased every trace of magic?"

Gajeel restlessly pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed again.

"Yes, that's the biggest part of the problem. Magnolia used to be overflowing with magic. Until the Queen died that is. I'm surprised you never noticed anything. I know you were just a kid, but bloody hell, your mother was one of the best."

His words didn't make any sense to Lucy, who didn't know what he was talking about.

"The best what?"

His head jerked up in surprise, clear on his face that he might have said too much.

"Doesn't matter. After she died, your father banned everyone who could use magic from Magnolia, burning all the books, shattering the Lacryma..."

His voice trailed off, and he seemed to be pained by the memory.

"And he had all the dragons slaughtered."

"Dragons?"

Lucy squealed in surprise. This didn't make any sense. She must be dreaming. This was all a nightmare. She was safe in her own bed, or maybe sleeping in her chariot, and there was no wolf man. There was no magic, and this story was all a lie. It just couldn't be true.

"Yes dragons. There used to be plenty. Now, I don't know how many are left."

Lucy didn't dare ask anymore. It seemed like even though she never noticed, her father was well acquainted with this magic, and never told her. He kept her ignorant. Only now she realised how captive she had been in the castle. He never showed her anything he didn't want her to know. She remembered now, more than ever, how distant he always had been, except for the rare trips, where he would take her to the most beautifull places in the kingdom, showing how wealthy their kingdom was.  
Ignorant to her thoughts, Gajeel interupted her.

"Either way, after magic was banished, the kingdom started to die. I'll show you."

The lacryma's image started to shift, and the castle seemed to slide to the left, as the city came in view. At first, Lucy regonised the wealthy and beautifull white streets that she had been allowed to go to with her guards. She even saw an alley that she once used to mess around with one of her guards. But the image kept shifting untill it showed houses that seemed to be almost falling apart. There were huge cracks in the stone walls, the roofs were partly collapsed at some points and kids were playing in the streets, clothed in rags. This was Fiore?

"This is the outer rim of Fiore. Far away from the castle. Far away from your eyes. You really didn't know this did you?"

Lucy looked away from the lacryma to look at him as he studied her face. She didn't realise she was crying, untill he got up, put the lacryma on the chair, and walked up to her, lifting his hand to wipe a tear from her cheekbone. It was a strangely gentle gesture.

"Did you know this?"

"No."

He rubbed his chin in thought, and turned away from her, seemingly planning to leave, when he suddenly grabbed his head with both hands.

"Ugh! Dammit!"

Not knowing what was happening to him, Lucy watched him as he grunted in pain, untill suddenly he straightened his back and turned back to her again. His face once again had the wolflike snarl around his lips, and he smiled.

"Now, I told you something, now it's your turn. What do you know about the kingdom? I can hardly believe you spent your entire life in that castle."

Lucy nervously bit her lip, and shook her head.

"I don't know much."

He came closer again, like a predator stalking his prey. His hand moved up to his cheek and as he extended his finger, it shifted shape and turned into a small blade.

"Tell me what you do know. What did the king show you?"

Lucy shivered almost impercievably, and thought about what she could possibly tell him.

"He showed me the bigger and richer cities. The meadows and vineyards. The hill of water and fire., and the falls of.."

"Stop. Hills of water and fire? Tell me about that."

Surprised by the sudden interest in something that seemed so unimportant, she thought hard to remember what it was like, and how to explain. When she took too long, he suddenly grabbed her right arm with the hand that had the blade-finger, and quickly pierced the skin of her lower arm. She screamed as the blade seemed to burn in her flesh, and when he pulled his hand away again, she felt her own blood drip down her arm. She sobbed as she could feel the wound throb, but he didn't give her time to rest.

"Start talking."

Still sobbing, Lucy started to tell all she could remember.

"It's in the south. The hills are more like mountains, and they seem to guard the only way to Tenroujima."

"Do you know what that name means?"

He interupted her again, and she shook her head.

"It means Tenro Island. Is it an island?"

Lucy shook her head again.

"No, but maybe it's called that way, because it's secluded from the rest of Magnolia. The passage between the mountains is the only way to get there."

She paused and Gajeel frowned in thought, no longer looking at her. He got back to the chair, put the lacryma on the floor, and sat down again.

"Why are the mountains called water and fire?"

"Because of the flowers."

When Gajeel frowned at her, she hastily continued.

"Nobody seems to know why, but the flowers and plants on the left mountain are all blue. Different shades but still. It makes it look like a stormy ocean. The flowers on the right mountain are all shades of red and orange. But nobody can explain it. Either way it seems like the mountains are made of water and fire. Also because there is water on the blue mountain, but desert sand on the red mountain."

Gajeel crossed his arms and leaned back.

"Your mother would have known."

"How would you know?"

"I used to live in Fiore."

His answer, even though it didn't really answer her question, surprised her. He used to live in the capital? That meant that he had been banished at a very young age. If her father really did banish all magic after her mother died,he was banished at the age of ten maybe. He couldn't be much older then her.

"Is that why you hate the king?"

Gajeel got up from the chair and picked up the Lacryma, turning towards the bars and made a hole to step trough. He closed the bars behind him, leaving her alone in her cell again. Before he left he turned his face towards her.

"I have plenty of reasons to hate him. And so do you. Maybe you should ask yourself if it was really the black plague that killed your mother."

And with those last words he left her alone in the dark.

...

...

...

"Cobra."

The purple haired man that had called out his name in the meadow stepped out of the shadows of the main corridor, far away from the princess's cell, closer to where the gang of robbers recided. Gajeel didn't even bother looking at him.

"What's on her mind right now?"

"Doubt. It's remarkable that she doesn't seem to notice the physical pain at all. She's...crying I think. Thinking about her mother. And she's...trying to remember.'

"Remember what?"

"Magic."

Gajeel's head snapped to the side to look at Cobra's concentrated and thoughfull face. He closed the distance between them, only an inch away from Cobra's face.

"What do you mean?"

Cobra didn't seem at all impressed with his treathening stance.

"She's not sure if she believes you and is trying to remember if she ever noticed something strange."

"And the king?"

Cobra sighed,

"She doubts him."

Gajeel smirked and backed away from him.

"Good. Very good. Doubt is the best torture. Let her doubt him. I'd be satisfied if she tells me what I want to know, but it would be even better if she turned on him. She has potential."

Cobra frowned.

"How so?"

"She has magic. She just doesn't know. But being Queen Layla's daughter, it's only natural. If she turns on the king, maybe I can give her the push she needs to use magic herself. That would be a stab to the heart for that old geezer. It would be perfect."

He turned away from Cobra and put his hand on the doorknob to the left, slightly opening it.

"Now, I'll be in my rooms. There's a maid waiting for me, and I need to unload. Don't disturb me."

Cobra smiled and nodded.

"Understood."

 **A/N: This was a longer one than I expected, but also there's a few small things, that are important to get to bigger things. I'll do my best to keep this story flowing smoothly, without cramping too much into one chapter. I have alot of ideas for this story. Please leave a review, it is very much appriciated, because I like to know your thoughts on this story.**

 **Thanks for reading and till next chapter!**


	4. Her name is Levy

**A/N: Sorry for taking so long to post a new chapter! I was sick and busy, so I'm really really sorry for making you wait so long. This chapter will give you guys a small peak into Levy's life( I know you all guessed she was the bluehaired girl that summoned the Lacryma.) I will not reveal too much, because that's for a later chapter, so lets see where this chapter takes us, ok?**

 **CH: 4. Her name is Levy.**

The little blue haired girl softly groaned as Gajeel slammed her back into the wall, and pushed himself in as deep as he could. She knew she better not make a sound, because that would only make it worse, but she couldn't help it. It hurt. It hurt so much.

"M-Master! It hurts! Please..."

"Shut up!"

The girl bit her lip hard enough to make herself bleed, as he started pushing harder and harder. At some point she could feel he was reaching his high, and he dropped her on his bed to give the final push, colapsing on top of her as he panted. A silent tear slowly rolled down her cheek, as she waited for him to get off of her. After a few minutes he pushed himself up on his arms and looked down at her. Turning her face away, she avoided looking at him.

"You know why you are my favorite slave?"

"Because I'm so small, I make you feel bigger."

"That's right."

Gajeel got up, picked up an old rag and cleaned his manhood. Levy remained lying on the bed, motionless, untill he would tell her she could leave. Their eyes met, and he smirked.

"Go to your room and clean up. After that, feed the princess."

"How am I suposed to get into the cell?"

"I don't care. Be creative."

"Yes sir."

Levy got off the bed and got dressed, so she wouldn't have to go trough the tunnels naked. She knew Cobra was always around to make sure nobody would disturb Gajeel, and she really didn't want him to lay eyes on her. Being Gajeels personal toy was already hummiliating enough.  
Without another word she left his room, pulling the door tightly closed, and immediately was face to face with Cobra.

"Seems like he's pretty rough on you, isn't he? Why don't you give yourself to me instead? I promise I'll be gentle."

"Leave me alone!"

"O, come on, don't be so cold, Levy. He doesn't even use your name when he screws you. You know I can hear everything."

"Then listen when I tell you to leave me alone!"

Cobra stepped closer, backing her up against the wall. Just as he was leaning in, Gajeel slammed the door open.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? She's mine. You better not touch her, or I will cut your balls off!"

Cobra slowly took a step back.

"You're not fair, keeping all the cute ones to yourself."

Gajeel just gave him a faul glare, before glancing at Levy.

"I told you to get to your room."

Levy nodded and ran off, running faster and faster untill the door to her room slammed closed behind her. She leaned her back against the door and slowly slided down untill she sat on the floor. Taking a deep breath, she thought of the reason she put up with all this. The reason why she never tried to escape. The reason why she never stood up to him. With a loud sob, she crossed her arms over her pulled up knees, and rested her head on her arms as she weeped.

...

...

...

It was impossible to sleep like this. The cuffs were too tight around her wrists, and hanging a few inches from the floor, really put a strain on her arms. Lucy was so tired, and her body really hurt. Apart from the physical discomfort, it was dark and lonely in here. Did her kidnapper intend to make her go mad? Lucy sighed in the silence of the caves. If only she could go home. She had no idea how long she had been here, and if her father would realise by now that she was missing. When her convoy was attacked, she was only one days travel away from meeting her betrothed, and she had the feeling she had been here for much longer than one day. Someone must have noticed she was missing by now, right?

Lucy's thought were interupted by the sound of soft footsteps , echoing trough the tunnels. She looked up, but the cave was still too dark to see who it was, although she knew it couldn't be the Leader. His footsteps were too loud and heavy, so this soft ones could not be his.

A halo of light appeared on the tunnel walls, coming closer with every soft step, untill the blue haired girl from before came into view. She halted in front of Lucy's cell, holding a torch and a woven basket, with a cloth covering it's contents.

"Hello."

Lucy greeted her softly, wondering what she was doing here. But the girl did not reply, nor looked at her. Instead she looked at the bars, apparently deep in thought. She put down the basket, and started making writing motions in the air.

"Solid script : Acid!"

A word that seemed to be made of liquid apeared. In the dim light of the torch Lucy could read the word; 'Acid'. The girl moved her hand forward, and the liquid word moved forward too, untill it reached the bars, dissolving it in front of Lucy's very eyes. The liquid dissapeared into thin air, and the blue haired girl stepped inside. Lucy looked at her as she picked up the basket again, and turned to face her.

"I'm suposed to feed you. I can't undo those cuffs though. So you'll have to let me put the food in your mouth."

Her voice, though soft, sounded ferm and confident, very different from how it was before, when the Leader held her in his arms. She looked at Lucy with a concerned looked, obviously trying not to care about her too much.  
Lucy nodded.

"Thank you. I'm already glad your boss did not decide to just starve me."

When the girl didn't answer, and just took the cloth off the basket without giving Lucy another look, Lucy tried again.

"My name is Lucy."

"I know, princess."

Lucy frowned.

"What's your name?"

"That's none of your concern. I'm only here to feed you, because my master told me so."

It was clear that she didn't want to talk, and even more obvious that it made her uncomfortable to be here. Remembering what Gajeel had said before, Lucy realised it must be this cell that made her feel this way.

"He did this to you too ,didn't he?"

The girl took some bread and fruit out of the basket, and started cutting it into edible pieces.

"It must be hard for you to be here again."

The girl still didn't answer, and just kept doing what she was doing, without responding to Lucy in any way.

"Please talk to me. I'm so lonely."

The girl finally looked up from her task, and bit her lip. It was visible on her face that she didn't know what to do. But Lucy just looked down on her, begging her with her eyes, untill the little girl sighed.

"I'm not allowed to talk to prisoners."

"Nobody has to know."

"Cobra will hear."

"Who's Cobra?"

Levy's eyes popped open in shock, realising she had said too much.

"Nobody. He's nobody."

"But he will hear us talk?"

"He can hear us think."

Lucy fell silent. He could hear them think? All her life, Lucy's thoughts had at least been private. As a princess, nothing was private. Her birthday was celebrated troughout the land, the cook decided what she ate, her nurse decided what she wore. Her servants washed all of her clothes, cleaned every corner of her room. She couldn't even keep a diary. Only her thoughts had been strictly her own, and now even that last bit of privacy had been stolen from her.  
The girl obviously noticed her distress, because she stepped closer and whispered.

"At least he didn't take your body, Princess. You still have that bit of dignity."

Lucy slowly nodded, as she realised she was right. Looking down at the girls frail body, she noticed bruises on her upper arm, that sickly reminded her of fingerprints. She must have been right about Gajeel, when she wondered about what he meant when he told the girl he needed to unload.

"He took your body, didn't he?"

The girls eyes filled with tears as she looked up at Lucy, and she nodded. Lucy felt for the little girl. It must be so hard on her, and she doubted Gajeel loved her. He couldn't possibly be gentle with the girl.

"I'm so sorry for you."

"Please, Princess, do not talk anymore. I will get in trouble. Just eat."

She offered Lucy some bread, and Lucy gratefully accepted it. The girl kept feeding her, untill there was only a flask left in the basket, wich she took out and opened.

"Drink some water."

She tried to lift the flask high enough for Lucy to drink, but Lucy was hanging so high, it was a bit hard. The food had been easier, it just neede to reach Lucy's mouth. But the flask needed to be tilted a bit to pour the water into Lucy's mouth.  
Both girls yelped in surprise, when suddenly a hand took the flask from the bluenette, and helped Lucy drink.

"Cobra! What are you doing here?"

The girl looked at him in shook, but he only had eyes for Lucy.

"I heard you had some trouble helping her drink, so I came to your aid."

Lucy looked at him with big eyes and he smirked.

"Hello princess. Nice to meet ya."

In the dim light of the torch, it took Lucy some time to regonise the man in front of her, but when she did her eyes revealed the shock. This was the man who posed as her guard; The same guy who yelled Gajeels name in the meadow. The one who was called serpent. Or was it snake? Either way, Gajeel had given him a weird nickname , wich apparently suited his actual name.  
The man in front of her slightly shook his head.

"No, not really. My mother named me Eric, but she passed away, and considering my weird ...well, hobby, I supose, Gajeel nicknamed me Cobra. I see you regonise me. It's too bad you didn't get the chance to play with me as you intended. Maybe Gajeel will let me have some fun with you when he's done."

Lucy remembered too late what the girl had said, and realised he just read her mind. And judging his words, he heard her thoughts back then too, when they were in the forest. Grossed out by the fact that he intruded her thoughts like that, and by the insinuating words, she spit the water he just gave her into his face.

"Never!"

Cobra wiped his face with his sleeve, and licked his lips.

"You have a temper, I like that."

He closed the distance between them again, and put his hands firmly on her breasts.

"And your assets aren't too bad either."

Lucy wriggled as much as she could, but the cuffs made it impossble to do anything else but kick her legs, and that didn't help much. He just kept massaging her mounds, as he licked her cheek. Just when she was about to scream, the bluehaired girls voice echoed trough the cave;

"Solid script: Iron!"

A huge word made of iron slammed Cobra into the wall, knocking him off Lucy.

"What the hell, Levy!"

"She is Gajeels prisoner! You are not suposed to touch her! If you touch her again before he allows you too, I will tell him and you will get in trouble!"

Cobra slowly got back on his feet, jumped towards Levy, and grabbed her by the neck, slamming her into the bars.

"You little filth! After all he does to you, you are still his loyal, little lapdog. You deserve getting deviled and used by him. You little, low backwards trash."

He dropped her to the floor, and left, stomping his way out of the caves, leaving Levy gasping on the rocky floor. Lucy watched her in shock and disbelief. Was Cobra telling the truth? Did Gajeel just devile and use her as he pleased?

"Are you allright?"

Levy nodded and got up. She slowly got out of the cell, used her Solid script to close the cell again, and looked at Lucy, with fire burning brightly in her eyes.

"I'm not his lapdog. I don't know how yet, but no matter what, I'll help you escape, Princess. Even if it's the last thing I do!"

She turned around and started walking away, her hands tight fists.

"Levy?"

Levy turned around at Lucy again, a questioning look in her eyes.

"Please just call me Lucy. And...thank you."

And even in the dim light, Lucy would swear she saw a small, sad smile on Levy's face, before she left her alone in the dark again.

...

...

...

 **A/N: So! That happened. We know a little more about Levy, but for now, I won't reveal the reason why she stays with Gajeel. Later later later. So much to tell, so much to write. Getting closer and closer to the main events! stay tuned, I'll try to update faster next time. Leave a review, I need your input and feedback to get better! It would make me very happy to hear your thoughts on this. Please folow me as author as well, because I intend to add another story, based on The Vampire Knight fandom. Whoop whoop!**


	5. Humiliation is worse

**Ch 5: Humiliation is worse**

"There must be something! Anything! For godsake, she is the princess ! How does she not know anything about her own kingdom? Has she never even asked her father about the army?"

Gajeel looked at the Dark mage as he paced around in front of him. He understood the mage, but there was no way the princess knew anything valuable.

"Forgive me Exalted One, but you must realise it's a girl. If the king had a son , he probably would've trained him to fight.A prince would have known how to use the army, how big the army is. She only knew her personal guards. A princess is only good to marry off to a prince, to expand the kingdom. She probably had nothing to worry about , other than what dress to wear."

Th Dark mage stopped in front of him with his arms crossed.

"Yes, you might be right, but she's the only heir. I can't believe Jude didn't tell her anything."

"If you ask me, it's a miracle he didn't lock her has magic, and the spirits may take me if he doesn't know that. Marrying her off is the best way to get rid of her, and gain him something in the process, but if it wasn't of any use to him, she would've spend her life in the tower."

The Dark mage grunted. He was obviously aggitated and annoyed.

"You are sure?"

"With all due respect, master. If I torture her any more, I will kill her. She knows nothing. I even let Cobra join me to read her thoughts as I was cutting her up. There is nothing there that we can use. The only interesting thing was that of those mountains. The water and fire thing. I'm sure there's something there."

"The only interesting thing is that it's a perfect place for an ambush. You've been spending too much time listening to the stories of that bookworm you enjoy yourself with. You're starting to believe her nonsense. I'll take my leave. Contact me if anything really interesting happens. The girl is yours. Do to her as you please."

The Mage dissapeared in a black cloud of smoke, that quickly vanished into thin air, leaving Gajel alone in his room. He got up from the kneeling position he had been in, and walked out the door.

"Cobra."

Cobra emerged from the darkness of one of the caves, playing with a snake he kept as a pet. He raised his eyebrows at Gajeel, waiting for orders.

"Come with me."

Gajeel turned right, walked down the cave corridor, and ended up in a large cave. His entire band of robbers was gathered there, drinking, playing cards, amusing themselves with the whores. Some of the smaller caves that were in the walls, had closed curtains in front of them, making it clear some of the whores were giving a few of his men a good time.  
He crossed the cave with quick, large steps, passed Levy, who was know wearing something that barely covered her body, and grabbed her wrist.

"Come."

Without protest she went with him, trying to keep up with his big steps. When he noticed she was almost running while he held her by her wrist, he let her go and slowed down his pace. Cobra sped up, untill he walked on Gajeels other side, and glanced at him sideways.

"Torturing the princess twice today?"

"No. I'm letting her out. She knows nothing anyway. I can make better use of her outside her cell."

Gajeel noticed Levy's shock but ignored it, and kept going trough the caves and corridors, untill they came to the rocky steps, leading to what he proudly called dungeons. After a few turns in the corridors, they finally arrived at the prisoners cell.

Levy gasped and let out a soft sob at the sight of the Princess's exhausted and damaged body. Blood was dripping from several deep cuts, her clothes were torn so much, the rags barely covered her body, and her head hung, her hair a curtain in front of her face. The skin that was not covered with blood, was pale and dirty. At the sound of Levy's sob, Lucy slowly lifted her head. Her face, unlike the rest of her body, was intact, but bruised. She had dark circles around her eyes, and her eyes were red from crying.

"Lucy..."

"Shut up wench."

Levy immediately bit her lip to keep quiet, looking at Lucy's face. Lucy looked back, but her eyes didn't seem to see her. Didn't seem to recognise her. Even Cobra stared at Lucy with shock.

"Fuck, Gajeel, you might have gone too far with this one."

"The Lord demanded it."

Cobra whistled, the same way he had done in the forest, and Lucy's eyes popped open in horror as she looked at him. She started to cry, and she softly whispered something, but her voice was too hoarse to be heared. Gajeel looked at Cobra with a frown.

"She's begging for mercy. I scare her more than you do, even though you hurt her."

"Don't you think it's the whistling that triggered this?"

Cobra looked at Gajeel with a thoughtfull look and grinned.

"You're right, I did that at the meadow too, to signal you. The memory might be too much for our precious little princess."

Gajeel sighed in annoyance over Cobra's glee, raised his hands and removed the bars completely. Lucy's begging became louder, and her whimpering turned into loud whails. Gajeel stepped towards her and signed Cobra to step closer.

"Hold her."

"No, no, no. Please. No more. "

Finally aggrivated with her whimpering and whining, Gajeel snapped at her.

"Quiet princess! Or I will leave you here to rot! You should be glad I decided to get you out of here."

Lucy's sobbing was abruptly stopped as she looked at him. She flinched when Cobra lifted her legs, put one arm under her knees, and the other behind her back, but she made no more sounds. Gajeel put his hands on her cuffs, removing them without a word, and her full weight ended up in Cobra's arms. Around his neck was a big, purple snake, hissing at her, but otherwise motionless. She didn't like that at all, but she almost clung to Cobra when Gajeel reached out for her. With a grunt he took her from Cobra's arms.

"Order Kinana to sedate her. I don't want her to get too familiar with these caves. She might find the way out."

Cobra frowned, but didn't argue, and petted the snake on the head, rubbing his cheek to it's skin. The snake reacted to words unspoken, seemed to kiss Cobra's face, and slithered down his stretched out arm, towards Lucy. Levy nervously bit her nails.

"Master do you really have to? We can blindfold her."

"Quiet."

The snake slid down over Lucy's arm, that Cobra now held firmly, because she tried to pull her arm back. Not that she had the strength for that, but she still tried.

"If you move your arm, Kinana might hit a wrong vein, or give you an overdose, and you'll die. Keep still, and just take a nap."

Cobra's words made her freeze in Gajeel's arms, and the snake bit her wrist, injecting her with a small amount of venom. She whimpered softly at the pain, but the throbbing pain quickly faded. She saw the snake slither back to Cobra's neck, and then her head dropped back, her eyelids feeling heavy. The last thing she saw was Gajeel's calm and serious face.

"Goodnight, princess."

Did he just sound worried?

...

...

...

Lucy opened her eyes, but immediately closed them again. It was so bright in here. She wasn't used to light anymore. Where was she? She slowly opened her eyes just a little bit, so she could peak around. This was an actual room. And she was lying on a bed. With pillows. And blankets.  
She slowly let her eyes adjust to the light, and looked at the source of the light. A window! There were bars in front of them, but it was definitely a window. She carefully inhaled, breathing in the fresh air. So good.

A soft noise to her left made her turn her head. Levy was washing some cloths in a bowl with steaming water. It seemed like they had blood on them. Did she just refresh bandages or something. Who's? Lucy looked down at her arms. There were clean bandages around her arms, suggesting Levy had just refreshed her bandages before Lucy woke up. Moving her legs ever so slightly, she felt bandages there too. And she felt clean. Well, cleaner anyway.

"Levy?"

Her voice sounded crooked and hoarse, but it was loud enough for Levy to hear. Levy quickly got up, and sat by her side on the bed, tears welling in her eyes as she looked at Lucy.

"Lucy. I'm so sorry. I should've tried to save you earlier."

Lucy shook her head, but quickly stopped when that made her dizzy. Levy noticed, and immediately stopped crying, her hand touching Lucy's forehead.

"At least you don't have a fever anymore. How do you feel?"

"Weak."

"Ofcourse you do. You've been sleeping for three days without eating."

Gajeels voice startled both of them, and they looked at the doorway, where he was leaning against the post with his arms crossed. He came towards the bed, motioned Levy to move, and when she got up, he sat down on the bed, his back towards Lucy.

"I thought you might want to know, you've officialy been reported missing. The entire kingdom is looking for you. But it seems like Tartarus is behind it, and your fiancee's father thinks it's a set up to keep you from marrying his son. There might be a war at hands."

Gajeel softly chuckled and looked over his shoulder to see Lucy's face.

"They will never find us here. They wil not even know where to look for you. In the meantime, you work for me. Just like Levy, you'll be on of my personal maids. Be happy about that, because that means, for now, my men will not lay their hands on you. It also means you will do as you're told. If not, you will get punished, and I think Levy will have plenty of time to explain what that means."

He got up from the bed and looked at Levy.

"Make sure she eats, and take care that she gets out of bed as soon as she's strong enough. Give her that dress I brought in for her. If she does not do exactly what I want, I will hold you responsible."

He smirked at Lucy, knowing she would obey because she wouldn't want Levy to get in trouble, and left the room. Lucy looked at Levy in distress.

"Levy, what does it mean to be his personal maid?"

Levy sighed with a sad expression.

"You hand him his food, pour him his wine. When he asks you to dance, you dance. When he orders you to sit in his lap, you pretend to enjoy it. When he orders you to wash his back, you wash his back. When he demands your body...you let him have it. You do anything and everything he tells you to do."

"And the punishment?"

Levy sighed again.

"He will either take your body with force, humiliate you in front of his men, or he will let one of his men do that for him. As if you're a toy. You mean nothing here."

Lucy looked at Levy's sad face in horror, and sobbed softly.

"I rather would've died in that cell."

...

...

...

 **A/N: Ahh, she's finally out of that cell. Next chapter will show a little of the things leading up to the main events, introducing one of my favorite characters. Slowly getting there, please be patient with me.**

 **Leave a review, please, and stay posted!**


	6. An Unexpected Ally

**A/N: Sorry for my long absence. I was honestly stuck with a lot of things. Busy, not feeling well, lot of overtime at work. and not in the right mindset to write. But I'm back, introducing one of my favorite characters. go find out who ;)**

 **Ch 6 : An Unexpexted Ally**

"He wants me to wear this!?"

Levy silently nodded as Lucy looked at the dress in disgust. That was, what had to pass for a dress. It was made of some shining fabric Lucy had never seen, showed a lot of clevage, it was almost uncomfortably tight, like a second skin, and it seemed like it was missing a lot of fabric on the skirt. It didn't even reach her knees, and the back was entirely see trough.

"I might as well be naked."

Levy sighed, and looked at her own reflection.

"With all due respect Princess Lucy, mine is worse."

Lucy looked at Levy, and wether she liked it or not, she had to admit levy was right. She was only wearing a small piece of fabric around her bust, that Levy called a bra, some weird piece of undergarments that only covered her ladyparts, and exposed her behind, and some see trough cloth, that could hardly pass for a skirt. It was basically just two long pieces of fabric, one on Levy's frontside, and one on her backside. Seeing how exposed Levy's body was made Lucy blush. Poor Levy looked like a woman of pleasure as her guards sometimes called them. She had only seen one of those women once, and when nana had explaind her profession, she had been shocked.

Lucy felt emberassed remembering how she had played with her guards from time to time, not that much more covered. But now that she realised what that outfit meant to Levy, what her own dress would mean for her, she was ashamed of herself.

Gajeels guards would see her and Levy. Gajeel might even touch Levy. From what Levy had told her the other day, he had used her body for his own pleasure more than once.

"Levy? Do you think he will touch me?"

Levy looked at her with a sad look, but didn't answer. And that was all the answer Lucy needed.

...

...

...

Upon leaving the room, they were greeted by Cobra. His pet snake was absent at the moment, but his annoying grin definitely wasn't.

"Well, well Princess. Don't you look lovely. The lord has ordered me to escort you two to the dining hall."

Levy snorted.

"The main cave you mean. Like there's such thing as a dining hall."

Cobra laughed and leaned towards her.

"You're lucky Gajeel favors you, little bitch. Otherwise I would have punished you for your audacity. It took a lot of work to make something out of that cave. And I would gladly rip that fabric off of you to teach you a lesson in manners. You should be thankfull for the luxury you have."

A growling voice echoed trough the cave corridor.

"I said escort, not threathen."

"The little bluehaired witch is getting arrogant."

Cobra protested as he backed away from Levy, as Gajeel came closer. There was only so much room to back up though, and before he realised it, Cobra had his back against the wall, Gajeel towering over him.

"I don't care what she says. You don't touch them. Either of them. I don't want your stench on my toys. Besides, she loves to provoke you. You know very well she can take you on if she wants to. Her loyalty lies with me, that doesn't mean she won't kill you if she gets the chance."

Lucy looked to her side to see Levy's response, but to her shock and disbelief, Levy didn't look surprised at all. She seemed...confident. She smiled a wicked smile as she looked at Cobra, making Lucy think Gajeel had actually been telling the truth. She softly whispered at her.

"You can do such things?"

"Silence!"

Gajeel turned around to face them. He took Lucy's arm and turned her around roughly, looking at her top to bottom. He gave Levy a quick glance.

"You go on ahead with Cobra. You know your job. I need to fix something about this dress."

He looked at Lucy while he said those last words, smirking mischievously, causing a shiver to roll down Lucy's spine. Levy gave her a worried glance, but nodded obediently and left with Cobra. As their footsteps faded in the distance, Gajeel grabbed a knife from his pocket.

"No sense in using my strength for futile things like this."

He quickly cut the sides of her skirt upwards, so her skirt was less tight around her legs, but also exposing her thighs. Putting the knife away again, he scanned her again and nodded with sattisfaction.

"Better."

Pushing her back against the wall he grabbed her chin, and forced her to look at him.

"Listen up, blondie, here's how it's going to be. You do whatever I say, whenever I say. No protests. Disobey, and you'll get hurt. Follow Levy's lead, and you'll be fine. Be a good girl, and I'll be fair to you. I'm not a complete monster. But I swear. If you cross me, disobey me, or piss me off, there will be consequences. And since I know girls like you need a little motivation, I'll give you some. If you ever try anything stupid, I'll punish both you AND Levy, got it?"

Lucy nodded as much as his firm grip allowed, and he let go of her.

"Good. And I warn you, don't try to escape. If you do, I'll make you suffer."

He grabbed her upper arm and pulled her with him, marching trough the corridors untill they entered a huge cave, that was brightly lit with torches and chandeliers. There were resting beds and couches. Large soft pillows on the floor. Hides that served as rugs. The skin of a bear for decoration. And lots of treasures. Loot. All kind of stuff these robbers could have taken, wherever they chose to plunder and pillage. There were low tables, where men lied next to on hides or pillows, accompanied by women that were obviously not prisoners like her and Levy. Some of these women were half naked, the men next to them pouring wine over their exposed mounds.

Lucy blushed and looked away. What kind of place was this? These people were heathens. And she and Levy were in the middle of it. She carefully looked at the robbers present in the cave. Most were dressed in hides or leather. Some were wearing old pants, made of woven linnen. But one man stood out. Lucy looked at him.

His hair was almost orange. His clothes were made of leather too, but a better quality than Lucy had ever seen. His hair was kept backwards with a leather headband with a strange emblem on it. She never saw that before. His eyes were fixed on her as well. He smiled and winked at her, and Gajeel saw it.

"Seems like you have a costumer. Levy is over there. Tell her to show you where the wine and the glasses are, and serve him. Keep him company. He's one of my loyal costumers."

He started to walk away, but turned back towards her.

"He's a loyal costumer, but you don't have to allow him to touch you."

once again, Lucy was surprised at how worried he sounded, but he pushed Lucy towards Levy, who already noticed her and gestured her to come. Hesitantly, Lucy walked over to her, uncomfortable with all the eyes staring at both of them. Levy noticed her discomfort.

"Ignore it. You'll get used to it. Gajeel told you to serve the ginger, didn't he?"

Lucy nodded, and Levy quickly handed her a serving tray, a bottle of fine wine and two glasses. When Lucy raised her eyebrows at the second glass, Levy smiled.

"He wants you to have a drink with him. Just have one, Gajeel doesn't mind, as long as the costumers are happy."

"He's not one of Gajeel's men?"

Levy shook her head.

" A lot of the men here are, but the biggest part is a loyal costumer to Gajeel's brothel, or a client when it comes to murder for hire. The ginger however, is a tradesman. He trades rare items with Gajeel. Usually for information, sometimes for something he wants. But in fact..."

Levy lowered her voice to a whisper

"...he's on the good side. He's a friend of mine."

Lucy opened her eyes wide in surprise, but Levy couldn't explain more, since Gajeel called for her.

"Wench! Less talking, more working. I'm getting lonely over here. Come keep me company."

With one last sad look, Levy left Lucy in the middle of a group of robbers. One of the women got up and stood next to her.

"Well, well. Gajeel has a new toy. I'm almost jealous. Guess he prefers pathetic types. Maybe I'm just too overpowering for him."

"Face it Minerva, you're scary. A real dragonlady."

One of the robbers teased her, and the men started to laugh. The woman named Minerva smiled cruelly.

"You only say that, because I didn't allow you to fuck me last night. You're pretty pathetic yourself. "

She looked at Lucy again and then suddenly gave her a push.

"Go to work you little slave."

As the robbers laughed behind her back, Lucy bit her lip and swallowed her tears as she walked over to the ginger haired man. He patted on the pillow next to him, and in a bit of a panic, Lucy helplessly looked at Levy, who nodded at her encouragingly. Gajeel kept a close eye at her as well, at the same time pulling Levy on his lap with a grin.

Nervously, Lucy sat down next to the man, setting the serving tray down on the table. The glasses almost fell over because of her shaking hands, but the man quickly grabbed them and prevented them from falling. He turned toards her.

"Don't be afraid of me, Princess Heartfillia."

Lucy looked at him in shock, surprised that he regonised her.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Leo, but my friends call me Loki. I'm Levy's friend. Her only contact with the outside world, her family."

"Her family?"

Leo poured two glasses of wine and handed her one, raising his glass at Gajeel, who answered with an equal gesture. He gently touched Lucy's blonde locks.

"You have to forgive me. I have to keep up appearances so Gajeel will not notice who I really am. You asked about Levy's family. They're the reason she never tries to escape. When Gajeel plundered her village, he intended to take Levy's younger sister, Wendy. She is a witch, like Levy. A mage as we call it. Levy offered herself in her sisters place, and promised to do whatever Gajeel asked of her, if he would leave her sister and her brothers alone. As long as she keeps her word, he doesn't harm them, and I have taken precautions, to make sure that he can't."

"How do you know who I am?"

"The entire kingdom is looking for you. And I promise you, Princess, I will get you out of here. You just need to have patience and be strong. I can't do anything rash. But I have powerfull friends, allies, who will help me get you out. "

Leo looked at her in silence for a moment.

"You look so much like her."

"Like who?"

"Your mother."

Lucy moved a little closer, and with a quick glance at Gajeel , Leo put an arm around her and pulled her to his side. Lucy flinched, but on the other side of the cave Levy slightly smiled at her, and she decided to trust her only friend in this mad hole.

"How do you know my mother?"

"I served her untill she died. It's a long story, that will have to wait till another time and place. I'll tell you all about it when I get you out. There's one thing I need to get first. As soon as I do, Levy can get you out, and I'll make sure you will be picked up."

"Picked up? I need to go back to the castle."

"We'll discuss that later. For now. Excuse me."

Before Lucy could ask what he meant, he wiped the wine from his lips, and burried his face in her cleavage. Lucy tried to move away, shocked, but he kept her in place, and suddenly she felt a small ballshaped object slide down between her breasts, and Loki sat back upright.

"Sorry about that. I need to be cautious, and even though Gajeel won't like this, it will not give me away."

He hardly finished his sentence before Gajeel reached them, and sat down next to Leo, pulling Levy along with him.

"I see you like my new girl. But I must really request that you do not lay a finger on my girls."

Leo bowed, touching his head to the floor.

"My apologies, mylord. Her bossom got the best of me."

...

...

...

Back in their room that night, Levy quickly closed the door, after checking there was nobody outside the door, and rushed over to Lucy. Grabbing her arms she pulled her towards the bed, sitting down on it. Lucy followed her example and sat next to her, still holding Levy's hands.

"Loki. He gave you something when he hid his face in your chest, didn't he?"

Lucy reached between her breasts, and took out the small ball. It didn't mean anyting to her, but Levy looked almost extatic.

"A message!"

"Message? From who?"

Levy took the ball from her, and mumbled something with her eyes closed. Suddenly a face appeared above the little ball, an tears welled up in Levy's eyes.

"Wendy."

"Your sister?"

"Loki told you?"

Lucy nodded in silence as she looked at the little girl. Like Levy, she had blue hair, but hers was longer and tied up in two tails on each side of her head. She looked much younger than Levy, but when she started to talk, she sounded more mature than her looks would have you believe.

"Levy. If you see this, Loki has managed to succesfully deliver the message. I wanted you to know that I am save. So are Jet and Droy. Loki brought us to the hide out. If you have any means to escape, please try as quickly as possible. Gajeel will not be able to harm us. Loki says he wants to free the princess first, because the Dark mage is out there too, and freeing two girls at once, might be too much for Natsu. He needs to be able to focus, and that's not his strongest virtue. But I'm confident you can escape without Natsu or Loki. We will get you as soon as we can, but try to get out if you can."

The girl was obviously struggling to hold back tears.

"We love you, big sis."

The face dissapeared, an Levy clenched her fist around the little ball, tears rolling down her face. Lucy tried to process all that she heard, but it all came down to one question.

"Who is Natsu?"

Levy looked up with a sad smile.

"One of the last dragons."

 **A/n: Let me know what you think! it helps me improve!**


	7. When everything else fails

**A/N: I don't think I'll ever stop apologizing for how long it takes me to upload a new chapter. This time it took very long though, and a loyal fan made me aware that it was time to continue this story. I can not explain why it took me so long, as my reasons are too personal, but let's say i've been trough some rough patches. I won't promise a fast update, since I'm very busy, but i will try to at least see this story trough to the end. have a good reading!**

 **CH 7: When everything else fails.**

"Lucy."

Levy's soft voice woke Lucy from her restless sleep. She had been Gajeels slave for a few weeks now, and fortunate for her, he didn't touch her yet. Some of his men got a little handsy with her though, and even though Gajeel allways scolded them for it, it didnt stop, and therefore Lucy did not sleep well, dreaded by the thought one of them might have his way with her.  
Levy shook her again as she softly whispered her name. When Lucy looked at her in the dim light of their room, that they now shared at night, she saw how tired Levy was, and realised Levy had just returned from Gajeels room. Mockingly Levy confirmed Lucy's fears.

" Gajeel fucked himself tired. He's asleep, as are his men. There's only a few guards. It's time."

The past few weeks Levy had secretely prepared for Lucy's escape, and when both girls noticed the band of robbers was getting more restless, and more than willing to dissobey Gajeel in order to have fun with Lucy and Levy, it was decided they couldn't wait any longer. Tonight they would make their escape.  
Lucy slowly and silently got up, dressed herself in some decent clothing Levy gave her, and put on the soft step ins, also provided by Levy. The clothes were simple, not halfly as luxurious as the robes she was used to back in the castle; in fact, they made her look like a begger. But at least it wouldn't draw attention, her body was covered, and it would be warmer than the see troughs Gajeel made her wear.

Levy went in front and lead her trough a huge labyrinth of caves and corridors, so much Lucy was sure she never would've found her way out, and then realised that was allways Gajeels intention. No matter what he had planned for her, he definitely did not want her to leave his hideout. Lucy was almost surprised at the kindness and goodness he had shown her, not sure why she wasn't treated like a prisoner, and still not allowed to see the sky, or breathe fresh air.

After what seemed to be hours, Levy signaled Levy to halt. She peeked around the corner of the wall they were pressed against and sighed with relief.

"Just Cobra on watch."

Just Cobra? That guy alone was enough to make Lucy want to run back to their chambers. The passed two weeks he had been a constant annoyance by threathening her with all the 'fun' ideas he had to amuse himself with her. And that pet snake he kept around his neck at all times did not improve her opinion of him. But apparently Levy wasn't afraid, and Lucy thought back to her first day as servent, when Gajeel said Levy could take Cobra on. She just wondered how a little frail girl could take on Cobra, as Levy stepped around the corner, started her magic writing in the air, and shouted with the most powerfull voice Lucy ever heard from her.

" STUN!"

The magic runes flew over to Cobra, who was just fast enough to turn around, and got the runes full in his face. Without further delay, he and his pet snake dropped to the floor, and Levy took Lucy's hand, pulling her trough the rock ran trough, passed Cobra, and Lucy couldn't help but ask.

"Is he...dead?"

"No, just stunned, paralised. Be quick now ,Luce."

Recently Levy finally let go of her good manners towards Lucy and stopped calling her princess, and now just called her Luce, something that made Lucy strangely happy, because even in this bad place, it at least felt like she had a good friend.  
Shortly after they passed Cobra, Levy pulled her trough a curtain of vines, and they were outside. They ran a bit of distance into the woods, and then Levy pulled Lucy to a halt. She turned Lucy to face her, and pushed a small ring into her hand.

" Wear this, it will hide your presence. Keep running in that direction.."  
Levy pointed West, "till morning. Do not stop walking for the night. I will signal Loki and the others, they will find you."

Levy let go and started to walk backwards, and Lucy panicked.

"You're not going with me? Levy, please, don't leave me alone."

Levy stepped forward again and grabbed her hands.

" Lucy, I can't. Despite the fact Wendy said they are safe, you don't know what Gajeel and the Dark Lord are capable off. You have magic inside you Lucy, like your mother. Try to find it, channel it, defend yourself. But I have to go back. Hurry now!"

"He will kill you!"

"Death would be relieve, my friend. Please go!"

And, after kissing Lucy on the cheek, Levy turned around, and started to run back to the hell Gajeel created. Halfly knowing it would be of no use, Lucy still shouted after her.

"LEVYYYY!"

But Levy was gone, and Lucy was alone in the dark forrest. She had no choice. She turned her back on Levy, on Gajeel, on her prison, put the ring around her finger, and started running in the direction she was pointed.

"Someone, please save me."

...

...

...

"WAKE UP, U USELESS FILTH!"

Gajeel almost jumped out of his bed, straight into the Dark Lord. Almost out of reflex he kneeled, but before he could say anything, the Dark mage slapped him in the face.

"Get up! The princess is gone! You made yourself tired with that litlle bluehaired witch, and now you let our trump card escape. Get after them, you numbskull!"

Gajeel quickly jumped to his feet and into his pants. He didn't even bother to put on a shirt and sped trough the labyrinth Lucy and Levy passed trough only ten minutes earlier. It didn't take long befor he ran into Levy, who was just on her way back to her room, and she immediately realised he was furious with her. He grabbed her by her troath and smacked her up against the wall. Levy whimpered in agony and fear, convinced he would kill her this time.

"You little idiot. Don't you understand I was trying to protect you?"

Levy looked at Gajeel, who didn't only seem angry, but also frustrated, and, to her surprise, sad and scared.

"I'm only following orders, you stupid girl! I never would've killed you. As long as you were mine, you were save."

Levy saw enough pain in him to have courage to speak, to talk back to him.

"Save to get raped over and over again, to be wounded, to never see my family again!"

"You chose that fate yourself!"

" Because you would otherwise take my sister!"

"I was testing you!"

In the brief moment of silence that followed, they were interupted by Cobra, who just came back to his senses.

"She stunned me! Kill her, or I will! She let that blonde bitch escape."

Gajeel dropped Levy to the floor, and slapped Cobra, who ended up, ironically, on the floor next to Levy. With a pained look on his face, Gajeel pulled Levy to her feet and looked at Cobra.

"Take Levy to my room. Don't you dare touch her, for I WILL have your head, and turn your snake into boots. I will punish her after I've found the princess."

Cobra nodded, but Gajeel was already on his way out.

...

...

...

Lucy ran, and ran, and fell, and got up, and ran again. The only thing keeping her from taking a break, was the fear that she might be caught. And even though she felt terrible for Levy,knowing Gajeel would punish her for letting Lucy out, she couldn't help her friend by being captured.

Suddenly a cloaked man was before her, forcing her to stop. Lucy trembled with fear as she reconised the Dark mage that had been in her cell when she woke up, more than two weeks ago. He could use magic, Gajeel said so. Where did he come from?

"Hello, princess. We meet again. I think you understand, I can't let you escape. You're the key to my plan."

"How can I be important to your plan?"

Lucy's voice trembled, not knowing what he meant.

"None of your bussiness. But back you go."

He took a step towards her,and, afraid, she stepped back, away from him, afraid of what he might do to her, to make her go back.

"Please, let me go."

The cloaked man took off his hood, and revealed an older looking man, with gray hair, and a scar over his eye. With a shock Lucy realised she knew him.

"Hades?"

"You remenber me. I'm flattered, young princess. I didn't think you would. You were very young when I left."

"Left?"

Lucy was genuinly confused. She remembered this man, but why. When did he leave? Leave where? But she remebered a younger version of him. In a weird costume...

"You where our jester. You did tricks."

" I did magic, young Lucy. You liked it. Your father did not. Certainly not after your mother died. Do you never wonder, how your mother got the black pague, when nobody else did?"

Lucy shook her head.

"It wasn't the black plague, my dear."

Lucy remembered Gajeel had also hinted something like that. Seemed like he was telling the truth. But..

"Then why did my mother die?"

"Because I killed her."

Lucy's heart stopped. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Why?! My mother cared about you! She was your biggest fan."

"And also my biggest critic. And if I might add, my best apprentice. Your mother was a Mage, little ignorent girl. And she was very good. Too good, because she saw I used dark magic for my own proffit. She was too late to stop me though. Shame. She had great potential. After that, it was only logical your father banished all magic, wich made him not very loved, to say the least. He did give me a nice scar to remember him."

"Why? Why did you do it?"

Hades smiled at her with a demonic grin.

"Because I wanted the throne ofcourse."

Lucy had no more chance to reply, because a massive black dragon dropped out of the sky, onto his paws and claws, right behind her. Lucy yelped and jumped away, straight into Hades arms. He felt weird to the touch, and something in her body was alarmed, but she did not know what. Hades spoke to the dragon.

"That took you long enough."

The dragon growled and roared, in what it seemed to Lucy like a protest.

"Yes, I know she's wearing a cloaker! Didn't keep me from finding her. You're still a weak piece of garbage, just like when I found you in the trash you were born in. Now get this wench to her prison."

Hades pushed her towards the dragon, who swiftly grabbed her with one of his claws, and was tensing his hind legs to set off into the air, when Hades shouted at him.

"You better punish her good, Gajeel. Or I will give you a punishment you won't forget for the rest of your live."

Lucy realised with a shock that this dragon was in fact Gajeel, and that he was taking her back to his den. She screamed as hard as she could, as he took her with him, soaring trough the night sky.

...

...

...

Gajeel landed on a platform Lucy had never seen, and in a burst of smoke, he was his human self, holding her by the arm. To her shock he was entirely naked. He started dragging her inside, moving forward relentlessly as he pulled her along. After a few minutes, Gajeel grunted in irritation.

"You and Levy are both equally stupid."

Before she had a chance to ask what he meant, she saw Cobra standing in front of a door, that was apparently Gajeels room, because Cobra steppped aside, and Gajeel barched in without a word. Lucy cried out as she saw Levy chained to the wall in the far corner of the room. Levy looked up, saw Lucy and cried as well. Lucy didn't get the chance to see if Levy was injured, because Gajeel threw her on the bed, and got on top off her. Regardless of the fact that she had clothes on, he did not, and Lucy panicked. She never had a naked man on top of her, and by the look on his face, it wouldn't be pleasant.

"Gajeel, please don't do that! I'll do anything you want!"

Levy cried out to him in terror, seeing what he was intending to do. Gajeel looked over his shoulder with a snarl.

"Shut UP! I will deal with you after I teach her a lesson."

He ripped the thin clothes from Lucy's body like it was paper, and pushed her legs apart.

"I warned you, to not anger me or try to escape. This is your own fault."

Both girls screamed, though be it for different reasons, as he forced himself on Lucy.

...

...

...

Lucy crawled on the floor. Her body hurt. All of it hurt. Her belly, her arms where he had squeezed her too tightly,but most of all her pride and dignity. He had ruined her. Her whole life she was destined to become Queen, married to a prince, who would be King when he would be twenty-one years old. But that couldn't happen if she wasn't a virgin. And now her whole future, her life, her virginity; all was taken by this monster, who now slowly walked over to Levy, and broke the chains. As Lucy looked at her, Levy mouthed one last word. _Run._

And Lucy did. Run and run and run, trough the labyrinth, untill by accident, she ended up in the main cave. It was filled with robbers, who were at first not noticing her, but when one of them finally did, he shouted and pointed.

"Look at that, the princess is nude."  
"Now that's very provoking."  
"Yea, let's grab her."

The robbers all shouted their intentions, but when they came closer, Lucy's sight was suddenly blocked by dark long hair. Smoother than Gajeels. More...

"Minerva! What's the meaning of this?"

Minerva turned around and put clothes in Lucy's hands.

"Get dressed, slave. I will let you out, but only because I will not have a spoiled brat princess take my place as Dragon Queen."

...

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 **A/N: hope the chapter is long and exciting enough for you to forgive me for taking so long. Next chapter: Enter Natsu!**


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